December 21, 2018

1

Dear Parents, Students and Friends,

Well, we made it! Thank you so much to our wonderful school communi-

ty of staff, students, parents and friends who have all worked together

to make 2018 another amazing year at Sandy East. The trials and chal-

lenges we have overcome with the building works shows what fantastic

students, teachers and parents we have in our very special community

which I am extremely proud and privileged to lead. This is the final

newsletter for the year and the last one ever for many of our Level 6

families.

Reflection of the 2018 school year…

We have enjoyed another BIG year for students with our learning in

classrooms, excursions, camps, Market Day, and the many opportunities

to celebrate our talents in specialists classes. It has been wonderful to

see the students present their learning in Foundation – Level 2 Investiga-

tions, and the Level 3 - 6 Education Research Projects (ERP’s).

For teaching staff it has also been a year of professional learning with co

teaching, leadership and modern learning spaces our focus. The UM-

NOS partnership with Melbourne University has been inspiring with the

team sharing learning with all teachers about literacy, numeracy, feed-

back and formative assessment. Critical friends Adam Voigt and Tracey

Ezard as well as our own expertise within our teaching staff have en-

sured our learning progress. Teacher’s focus is always on students and

their academic and social / emotional learning.

I am proud of all the quality teachers and level / curriculum leaders we

have at SEPS who I can always rely upon. The support from Assistant Prin-

cipals Karen, Russell ( and Genevieve ) has been fantastic.

TERM 1 - 2019

29 Jan - Curriculum Day

30 Jan - 1st day of Term 1 with morn-

ing assembly

31 Jan - Welcome Morning Tea

5 Feb - School Photos

12 Feb - Meet The Teacher

17 Feb - Lvl 6 Working Bee

20 Feb - Lvl 4-6 House Swimming Car-

nival

27 Feb - 1 March - 5/6 Camp

27 Feb - 28 Feb - Lvl 3/4 Science In-

cursion

14 March—Walk-a-thon

18 March - Curriculum Day

24 March - Level 5 Working Bee

Last Day of School is

Friday 21st December

Dismissal is at 1:30 Af-

ter Assembly at San-

dringham College

Final Assembly 1pm

with Carols and Year

6 Graduation at

Sandringham College

I appreciate the committed office staff who are always on hand to trouble shoot and look after our wel-

fare, and support the whole school initiatives. Our other Education Support staff show their care and con-

cern for students in classrooms.

Parent involvement is critical and I appreciate what our parents do to support the school through involve-

ment in PFA, Class Parents, School Council, and the many events organised throughout the year. Special

thanks to SC President Alida Williams and PFA President Lisa Holmes who are great leaders in our communi-

ty.

I do value and appreciate what you each do to make Sandy East the place to be, thank you all.

At SEPS there are always excitements, celebrations and inspirations that keep me wanting to come to work

every day. The joy on student’s faces, as they achieve, is something unique in our profession, and the

growth and pride that I saw with staff during their PDP presentations was fantastic.

I hope that you all have a good rest and come back refreshed, renewed and ready to take on 2019 with

it’s excitement as well as the challenges that we will need to overcome as we complete and move into our

buildings.

I hope that you all have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year and a restful holiday with family and

friends. We will see you back on Wednesday January 30th for a 9am assembly to announce our student

leaders.

On Friday we farewell the following staff as mentioned in previous week’s newsletters…

Teachers - Jessica Griffin, Jessica Mitchell, Amy Sellick, Rosie Johnston, Vicki John, Johannes Sher-

penhuizen and Aaran Armitage

Welfare/counsellor Melanie Edgar

Congratulations to:

Karen Roberts who recently learnt that she has been selected for a Semester (6 month ) Acting Assistant

Principal position at Kingston Heath PS commencing next year. Karen has been at Sandy East since 1999

and has been an amazing art teacher, teacher of both junior and senior classes, Leading teacher, UMNOS

leader and Acting Assistant Principal. That’s 19 years of wonderful relationships with students, parents, lead-

ership and colleagues. So many students have benefited from Karen’s passion for teaching, especially her

love of art and maths. In recent years Karen’s influence in making a difference to our craft of teaching has

been significant. Karen is a can do person and jobs are efficiently completed in a timely manner. Karen is a

wiz at documenting, and her strength at developing programs, AIP’S, Reviews, policies, timetabling etc is

renowned. Karen is prolific in her presentations as well as big picture data documentation. The Leadership

of UMNOS has shown an enormous growth and development of teaching and learning at SEPS with a con-

centration on the growth of student’s achievements. Karen has over the years been involved with School

Council and its committees showing interest in the big picture. More recently Karen has been involved in

the development of the Master Plan and currently the building, attending site meetings and adding her

valued insights.

We wish Karen the very best as she pursues leadership experience and look forward to seeing her back at

SEPS in Semester 2 next year.

I wish all our leaving staff the very best in their 2019 challenges and endeavours in new ventures which I

hope are fulfilling. Thank you for your farewell messages in the last newsletter. It was great to reflect on your

positive thoughts about SEPS. We hope that you will all be back for the opening next year ( Date TBA) and

the Seaside Fair which is on Saturday November 23rd.

Farewell to the Class of 2012 Foundation - our level 6 graduates.

Students presented a memorable graduation

ceremony and we were proud of their presenta-

tions and participation, reflecting on the good

times at SEPS. We celebrate your past achieve-

ments and look forward to the endless possibili-

ties ahead for you. There are many highlights to

a student’s journey through their seven years of

primary education. The most memorable is, un-

doubtedly, the first day at school and how you

reacted to the other students in class who have

now become your peers and friends.

Back in 2012 you met Meanie the turtle in my

office and I read a story to you. Every teacher

has watched and guided your learning and in-

dividual progress with interest. Throughout these

seven years teachers have been caring and supportive in bringing you to the place you are today, along

with your loving families.

I hope secondary school provides you with many new friendships, excitement, successes and challenges. I

congratulate you, our graduating students, and wish you the very best in life and I hope that you will pursue

your dreams and always remember the good times at Sandy East when you think… imagine… and be-

come great citizens of the world.

Farewell families who are also graduating from SEPS (those who have no more siblings). These Parents have

helped to make Sandy East a better place with countless tasks …… attending excursions, camps, working

bees, helping in classrooms and with sports, many as class parents and PFA, mothers & father’s day stalls,

graduation for last year’s graduates- the list is endless. Families we will miss at SEPS next year are;

Baker, Baxter, Cassar, Cavarra, Chubb, Clarke, Dunk, Edmonds, George, Gorton, Hall, Harris, Jackson,Keyt,

Lauder, Lopes, Malcolm, Mao, Marshall, Mikolajunas, Neall, Park, Procter, Ruger Anderson, Seuren, Smith,

Solomon, Teisini, Thompson, Thorpe

A special mention to the following families for their work above and beyond which is very much appreciat-

ed. Thanks to:

David Baxter for contributions on School Council and Angie for her photographic and all round sup-

port.

Vince Cavarra who has been an amazing support establishing our coffee culture and providing staff

for us and Ainslee Smith who is always front and centre providing her wonderful cakes to support new

school events. Phil George has been a valued member of School Council committees over many

years and his valued insights will be missed.

Donna Gorton has always been a hard working parent for events.

Maz Lopes is an all rounder for Fathers / Mothers day stalls and all school events.

Edwina Malcolm is another mum who always helps and Steve was a valued member of School Coun-

cil.

Kerry Thompson has been “Jill of all trades” on PFA with a hands on approach – her expertise of all

things technology will be sorely missed and her attention to detail was a wonderful support to me

personally and for admin support with Try booking, flyers for events and PFA Vice President.

Best wishes to all these families who I hope will come back and celebrate the building opening with us next

year.

Classes 2019

Students visited their new classes and met their 2019 teachers yesterday and we welcomed new students

to the school as well as our new staff. Our transition to new levels also gave students a feel of what is to be

expected in their classes next year. It was great to see the excited students looking forward to their next

year level.

Every student will bring home a letter and map as well as the term 1 calendar for your information.

Working Bee

Congratulations to Level 4 families for winning the working bee lunch. You have done well to achieve this

feat – thank you all for your hard work to make our school grounds safe and well maintained. The level 4

students have voted for fish, chips and potato cakes as their lunch. As you can see it was a big hit.

SEPS Four Seasons Garden Cook Book is NOW AVAILABLE

FROM THE SCHOOL OFFICE.

It’s the perfect gift for the holidays and a wonderful keep-

sake.

The Price is $25.00 Click here to order.

End of Year Reminders for Families

Please ensure any outstanding 2018 payments are finalised now.

2019 Student Requisites are arriving this week, so please prioritise payment of your child’s student req-

uisites now so that they can receive them ready for the school year.

School Sport commences in the first weeks of 2018 for Level 4 - 6 students. For stu-

dents to attend, payment of the Sports Levy must be made by February 2019.

Thank you to our families who have already responded to the 2019 Family Payments

& Contributions which covers the above requests. However, if you have not received

notification we urge you to contact our school office so that you too are aware of

the payment requests for 2019.

Giving Tree

Thank you to our generous SEPS families who have brought gifts for the Giving Tree which Family Life will dis-

tribute to families in need within our community. Sandy East families have been donating in this way for

many years so this is a great Christmassy task to do with your children, who can empathise that there are

others who need help at this time. Gratitude and Empathy are taught as part of the Resilience training for

students.

The New Year

Teachers and staff will be back at school preparing classrooms in late January and on Curriculum Day Jan-

uary 29th will be planning and learning. We will see you all again at SEPS next year on Wednesday Jan 30 th

with a leadership assembly when our leaders for 2019 will be announced.

Holiday Greetings

I wish you a very Happy Christmas and New Year with your family and friends and hope you enjoy a relax-

ing and safe holiday break. I look forward to an exciting year ahead.

Regards to all,

Principal

What’s Been Happening at Sandy East This Week?

LEVEL 1/2

Level 1 and 2 students are now extremely excited about the end of Term 4 because they are progressing

to the next level of their learning as well as looking forward to Santa arriving, Christmas Day and a well de-

served holiday. Yesterday saw the students move to their new classrooms and meet their new teachers for

next year and they are very happy, enthusiastic and eager.

A huge congratulations to all students in Level 1 and 2 for their persistence, resilience and learning capa-

bility. 2018 saw many students reach their learning potential, remain on task and commit themselves to

learning in different environments and with different people.

The teachers in Level 1 and Level 2 congratulate all the students and wish them all a very Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year. Happy and safe holidays.

LEVEL 3/4

Wow, another year done! And what a year it has been… As we prepare for the end of Level 3/4 2018, we

have had the opportunity to reflect on the students growth and achievements. We have been privileged

to have had the opportunity to work with such an amazing cohort of caring, confident and capable stu-

dents this year. Their growth and learning has surprised us each and every day and we are proud of their

accomplishments.

Thank you all for a wonderful year and we look forward to an exciting and productive 2019. Wishing you

all a very merry Christmas and a well-deserved break with your beautiful families!

A reminder that there will be a final assembly tomorrow in the Sandy College Hall at 13.00. Students will be

dismissed and collected from there at 13.30.

Congratulations to Emma Williams on being awarded the Goldstein Medal.

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